When did the Federation outlaw genetic engineering

There seems to be some contradictory evidence that eugenics is illegal in the Federation. Unnatural selection clearly shows federation citizens conducting eugenics. In "Masterpiece Society" Picard was more concerned about undermining the integrity of the colony than the fact that we was introducing genetic supermen into Federation society.

So one wonders when the Federation introduced the flat prohibition of eugenics?

Well, in ENT it was already outlawed on Earth, apparently shortly after the Eugenics Wars. So, it stands to reason that it was banned in the Federation from the day it was founded. However, there are some inconsistencies in TNG episodes because the strict ban was only thought up later as a part of Bashir's story line.

The ban on genetic engineering must be a pretty detailed document defining exactly what they mean, not just a simple statement that it isn't allowed. For instance, Spock was genetically engineered and I'm sure that could be said of any other hybrid people. That is allowed. And would they allow a bit of tweaking to eliminate naturally occurring birth defects?

I completely understand and agree with the ban on creating "genetic supermen" but realistically, where do they draw the line?

So one wonders when the Federation introduced the flat prohibition of eugenics?

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Dunno - sometime after ST:NEM, perhaps?

I mean, there's no evidence of a "flat ban" in those instalments of Trek that we actually saw. All we get is the supposed rule against producing supermen - a rule that first finds expression in "Dr. Bashir, I Presume", a case where a superman of sorts has indeed been produced.

Now, one would think that what was done at the Darwin Genetic Research Station in "Unnatural Selection" would be against the ban, too, since the results were supermen. But that was in controlled laboratory conditions. We never hear there would be a ban on genetic research. All we hear is that the UFP doesn't allow for unregulated application of that research on the average Joe or Jane.

The ban on genetic engineering must be a pretty detailed document defining exactly what they mean, not just a simple statement that it isn't allowed. For instance, Spock was genetically engineered and I'm sure that could be said of any other hybrid people. That is allowed. And would they allow a bit of tweaking to eliminate naturally occurring birth defects?

I completely understand and agree with the ban on creating "genetic supermen" but realistically, where do they draw the line?

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/\ I agree with this as I just reading up on Bashir entry on Memory Alpha where it says that when he was young he had problems with keeping up with children his own and was mentally slow at learning, just like a lot of people are today. You'd think that by the 24th century there'd be a legal medical procedure that would cure any mental deficiences that are found in Human children that wouldn't come under the Genetic Engineering law as it's basically fixing a flaw in someones genes not improving them.

There seems to be some contradictory evidence that eugenics is illegal in the Federation. Unnatural selection clearly shows federation citizens conducting eugenics. In "Masterpiece Society" Picard was more concerned about undermining the integrity of the colony than the fact that we was introducing genetic supermen into Federation society.

So one wonders when the Federation introduced the flat prohibition of eugenics?

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"Dr. Bashir, I Presume?" firmly establishes that the ban existed at least as far back as Julian Bashir's childhood in the 2340s, and ENT's Augments arc seems to imply that the Federation essentially inherited United Earth's ban on genetic engineering. It's a ret-con, pure and simple. The novel The Buried Age by Christopher L. Bennett reconciles the issue in passing by mentioning that the colony in "The Masterpiece Society" had been given special dispensation by the Federation government to engage in genetic engineering.

So one wonders when the Federation introduced the flat prohibition of eugenics?

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Dunno - sometime after ST:NEM, perhaps?

I mean, there's no evidence of a "flat ban" in those instalments of Trek that we actually saw. All we get is the supposed rule against producing supermen - a rule that first finds expression in "Dr. Bashir, I Presume", a case where a superman of sorts has indeed been produced.

Now, one would think that what was done at the Darwin Genetic Research Station in "Unnatural Selection" would be against the ban, too, since the results were supermen. But that was in controlled laboratory conditions. We never hear there would be a ban on genetic research. All we hear is that the UFP doesn't allow for unregulated application of that research on the average Joe or Jane.

Timo Saloniemi

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Actually, the situation in Unnatural Selection was even worse since it produced augments who's very existance, no matter how benign, proved lethal to normal humans.

In "Dr. Bashir, I Presume" the supposed "flat ban on eugenics" is described thusly:

"DNA resequencing for any reason other than repairing serious birth defects is illegal. Any genetically enhanced human being is barred from serving in Starfleet or practicing medicine."

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That's the long and short of it, as far as we know - even though the long of it is likely to be much, much longer outside our limited access to evidence. Here, the first half of the ban is on a specific technique, not on eugenics as such. And the second half doesn't ban supermen, it only prevents them from holding specific positions.

I could easily see the above law being consistent with "Unnatural Selection" in that research is perfectly allowable, even when application is not.

What "Cold Station 12" has to say on the subject is that Earth did indeed ban genetic engineering of apparently all sorts - resulting e.g. in the death of Archer's father. However, that ban might easily have been declared unconstitutional once the UFP was founded. Phlox and the Denobulans practice genetic engineering at the time, at any rate, as stated in "Borderland"; humans might have to yield to the will of the majority there.